Feathered friends: from Raichu to Raptor

Feathered friends: from Raichu to Raptor

Rebecca Duncan, Staff Writer

Some people are passionate about music. For others, it may be food. But for one new teacher at Creekview, it is the world’s ecosystems that excites him.  

Daniel Pratt, the new Environmental Science teacher, has long had a love for everything science. He always enjoyed the subject in school and how it can be applied in the real world.   

“Science tells us how everything works, and I’ve always liked knowing that answer,” Pratt said.  

Science is his passion, but it is birds specifically that make his heart flutter, and he loves teaching his students about them.  

“They are the most diverse group of vertebrates that are on land … you can see so many different types of birds in one day,” Pratt said. 

 Pratt’s fascination for the feathered fowl dates back to his childhood. Growing up, he had an idol in the world of science who sparked his love for animals.  

Steve Irwin [is my idol] because he was fearless and loved critters,” Pratt said.  

 Growing up, nature programs were not the only shows Pratt enjoyed watching on television. 

“As a kid, I always loved Pokémon,” Pratt said.   

Pratt went from capturing animals on his phone, to spotting them in the wild when he worked in New Mexico identifying types of predators in the desert. He spent most of 2018 in the Southwest.  

“I worked as a raptor biologist where I hiked in the desert for 12 miles a day and just identified birds of prey. It was a lot of fun, but it was very hard,” Pratt said.   

Do not be fooled. Pratt is not all seriousness. Although he has spent his life marveling at all types of animals and has brought both his love for them and for teaching into his classroom, he is still a Pikachu fan at heart.